Picked up this bottle at Hy-Vee on Grand in Des Moines. Pour a hazy blonde with a very loose head. The aroma is citrusy and piney with some honey and good fruitiness. The flavor is grapefruit with a little saltiness and a nice all around citrus rind bitterness. Not bad.

With a ton of appreciation for the cultivation and execution of home grown ingredients, I appaude Rogue for the dedication to the organic and natural way of thinking about their brewing process and products. After all that, it's hard to say where their beers are actually going.

Their Single Malt Ale has a deep golden, rusty hue with significant haze. A stark-white head forms a mix of mid-sized bubbles that rise and then resign to a sheet of creame that covers the beer evenly and with good lacing.

Aromas and flavors of biscuity malt, mild caramels, and high fruity esters scream English Pale Ale while earthy and spicy hops give both bitterness, a leafy flavor, and smooth bite in the finish. Moderate in alcohol, the weight of malts and fruity notes dominate the beer basically from start to finish. Earthy tobacco, aloe, and pine give a resiny taste and bitterness that edges even closer to earthy flavor- but odd ones. Apples, peaches, pears, mangos (all of the over-rippened variety) have a tremendous impact on flavor.

It seems that the Rogue line-up (the Pac-Man yeast affect) is taking on a very strong English-like taste, aroma, and body. These make for good beers but this brewery is known for their advancements of American style (West Coast) Ales- very contradictory.

I like the idea behind this one. Simple and local ingredients. Being from the NW, this beer should be a bit more hoppy than a normal blonde.

Pours a bit hazy golden, glowing body. Head is huge, I would say this is due to carbonation, but it's quite sticky. Aroma is a bit of citrus, some herbal spice, a good amount of dry biscuit and some wet corn. Doesn't quite do it for me, but not bad.

More citrus and biscuit in the taste, corn is gone, thankfully. Some light spice. Carbonation and hops make this one fairly dry, and not quite as light or clean as normal. This would be nice on a hot day, but probably only one. It is well hopped.

Pours out a cloudy amber to orange yellow with two fingers of off-white creamy suds. Not a lot of lacing here.Smell is weak hop with a little lemon peel and grapefruit rind. Some alcohol and burning yeast to the nose.Taste is weak and bitter. Kind of like a budweiser married with an english bitter.Mouthfeel is clean for the most part but the bitter is really strong and stays with you for a while.Drinkability is OK. Would be so much better if it had a tad more flavor diversity.

T: Light grain base up front, followed by a strong lemon character and some light green apple. Piney and earthy hops come in strong and dominate the second half of the sip, leading to a bitter and slightly citric finish.

O: Very nice session brew. Would get again, but not must have. Recommendable. Enjoy Rogueand glad to see an American craft brewery GYO their own raw beeringredients. Not really a fan of thisstyle, but works quite well.

I have to say to me seeing Rogue do a malt driven beer seems strange.Poured a bright lighter golden with a fluffy one finger white head that left broken rings of lace as it settled very slowly.Light aromas,mainly light honey,and toasty grain.Honey malt flavors hit up front on the palate along with some toasty/graininess,a faint herbal hop note lingers in the finish.Its lagerish to me flavor wise,its crisp and relatively clean,not bad.

Picked this up at the local bottle shop for 30% off. The appearance is a light cloudy gold in color, with a thick white head. The smell is a nice fresh hop aroma. Slight spiciness. The flavor continues in that vein, but adds a subtle sweetness, and the spice now tastes more like a pepper/rye. The mouthfeel is fine, if slightly cloying. Overall a nice blonde ale, and certainly one of the better blonds I have had.

Pours a toasted grain color with a fairly tight off white head that settles inot a light cap. The aroma is quite faint there is a very light bready malt scent, thats about it. The taste is of a light malt with some fruity notes and a subtle grassy bitter hop bite. The feel is moderate with very fizzy carbonation, lightly sweet on the palate and finishes slightly bitter. A nice easy drinking brew. Good balance between the sweet malt and grassy hops. The flavor won't blow you away but you can easily pack away a few of these.

Poured into an imperial pint glass. Color was a nice golden amber with small streams of carbonation rising from the bottom. Head was a solid 3 fingers off white froath that lasted a few minutes, but then left a nice head akin to whip on a mocha. Aroma was mildly hoppy, small amount of kick but not overwhleming. Malty did come through a bit as well. Taste was a sharp hop, not bitter. Different than I normally expect for something classified as a blonde. Felt good in the mouth. A strange mix of textures, but yet still coated well with enough to it to be interesting. Seemed to me to be one to savor, definitely not something to slam.

A: Pours a thick, effervescent, 2" head with foam that clings well. Very hazy, golden brew with some carbonation.S: Definitely a malt-driven aroma, hinting of dark, dried fruit and caramel, while given a bitter hops texture.T: The taste brings the bitterness of the "Revolution" hops into play. Subdued sweetness gives way to the explosive and lingering flavors brought on by the hops.M: Light/moderate body, good carbonationD: A refreshing beer with some interesting characteristics, but overall kind of simple and--while very drinkable--leaves something wanting.

A - A bight lively golden color. Light head even in a tulip glass with a proper pour.

S - There's no suggested serving temp obviously displayed on the bottle but this guy definitely needs to warm up a bit once out of the fridge. There's not a lot of aromatic character until it's had some time to open up. Once it does the main smell is like a toasted earthy loaf of bread. Smells basically like the first half of a brewery tour.

T - As expected, the hops take a back seat to the malts here. The intial flavor of the beer (where I always feel like the hops hit hardest) is somewhat absent but it makes up for it on the backend with the malts. As much aftertaste as actual taste but it's a good aftertaste so I'm not complaining.

M - Much lighter and crisper than expected, a pleasant surprise.

D - A totally drinkable beer (if you neglect the price) that I'd quickly recommend to any hop-hating friends. They do exist, unfortunately. *sigh*

Hazy, orange color with yellow highlights. Small glass, small white head. Decent lacing and retention, but not much lace left over when it's done.

Pale, grainy malt sweetness, with only a hint of leafy hops. Bready, but not very strong. The flavor is not overly powerful either, with some metallic notes mingling with the citrics, grassy, and pale malt sweetness.

Tinny mouthfeel, good carbonation, with decent heft. Just a hair on the watery side. Slightly bitter, dry finish. The hopping is just on this side of blonde ale. Understated and a little boring.

Not a bad beer, and I salute Rogue for trying to use all local ingredients - especially when they've grown some of those ingredients.

I'd venture that this looks more like a pale ale, albeit cloudy. Sweet malty smell with a very low hop character. Bitter-sweet malt taste, somewhat reminiscent of some of the Old Yale beers. Very PNW character to it, but somehow a bit heavy on the bitter side and some what metallic.

Carbonation could be toned down, and this is a bit thick, but over all a good, solid Rogue brew and something kind of new.

Pours a nice looking shade of light-amber, bordering on yellow. It isn't completely translucent but you can easily make out the stream of bubbles rising upwards. The head shoots out at two fingers and settles down at one. It never fades from that one finger; impressive staying power. Decent lacing compliments the whole package. Impressive.

This beer smells of light hops and lightly nutty malts. Rogue's own proprietary "Dare" malt is the only malt used in this beer and it makes for a beer that doesn't give off any strong aromas. It is pretty average for a amber/blonde ale.

This beer tastes fairly floral from the hops used. Light bitterness and honeysuckle flavors accent the nutty, faintly butterscotch flavors of the "Dare" malt. This is very straightforward but well-executed.

Mouthfeel is nice; inoffensive, some carbonation, some slickness, doesn't give you anything to think about. I really think this is a VERY drinkable beer. Light and refreshing; this would be a lovely beer to bottle in six-packs.

Sometimes you just want a straightforward beer with a clean flavor profile. "Chatoe Rogue" First Growth Single Malt Ale fits that bill. The politics of the beer - sustainable, estate grown ingredients - is icing on the proverbial cake.

A very nice semi-transparent golden straw with a thick crisp clean white head and a little ring of sediment.. Smell is sweet and crisp. A wonderful German pils smell. Taste is malty upfront with an interesting grassy hop after swell. An earthy hop taste that allows itself to be what it is after the malt has rushed by. Medium bodied. Over all not a bad beer but a little less grassy would make it better.Cheers.

Appearance is a light orange tone with a one finger white head. The nose has grains, toasted malts, as well as floral hops. Its` taste is a mix of more of the malts, hops, biscuit and faint sweetness. Mouthfeel is light to medium with a very smooth finish. This is a great beer for a warm day in the late summer or early fall.

It is interesting that breweries are going the way of high-end wineries and going for an "estate" kind of concept - growing and brewing and bottling the entire product in house. And in this case, Rogue has managed to take the concept and produce ... a perfectly good beer.

Pours a light, clear, straw yellow with a fluffy white head. The aroma is sharp, sprightly, and bitter, with straw and slight lemon. The flavor is primarily bitter, with a sharp pine sting. The flavor has a light, pilsner character, with a lemony edge and some pine. The mouthfeel is prickly.

Appearance: Pours a very slightly hazy golden yellow color. A large heads asserts itself and is off-white in color. Good retention and a sticky sensation for the head, overall. Very cavernous head formation after a few minute shows that it doesn't want to go anywhere. Plenty of lacing on the glass. Could be one of the best looking beers I've ever seen. Beautiful.

Smell: I immediately get that metallic, biscuity malt aroma upon popping the cap. Cereal grain and pilsner malt succumb to a burst of hop nobility. A fresh smelling beer.

Taste: A clean beer. The taste is not very powerful at all. I get a dull, fizzy sensation at first, followed by a cereal grain and pilsner flavor that dictates the beer. The hops are different, and quite bitter. They don't actually have a lot of flavor in them.

Drinkability: I'm glad I picked this one up. I fully support the use of terroir in beer. Less transportation cost, more locally produced products, etc., but this beer is lacking in flavor. It is fully adequate in every other area. I guess it just needed some tweaking to find itself. I would purchase again.

This one was on the discount table, no date. Pours a cloudy bright yellow with an off-white, slightly tan, foamy head. The head sticks around, 1/2 an inch, for the duration. The lacing is OK - little, dry spots of popped bubbles, like sea foam on the beach. The smell is fairly one-dimensional - nothing objectionable, nothing out-of-this-world: sour grain, some citrus/vinegar. It's a clean-tasting, dry beer. If this weren't the coldest night in November in Alabama but rather, oh, JULY, then this would be an amazingly refreshing ale. Sharp, metallic hoppiness, grapefruit rind, basil, lavender. This one doesn't leave you parched, and the carbonation's just about right. There's a bit of density to it that is welcome, as it's not watery or thin. A good go at it.

Golden amber with a sustained white head. Fresh grains and grassy hops aroma. The taste is balanced but predictable. Malt flavors are smooth and grainy, some pine is present. A well cared for beer, I'd peg it for more of an amber ale. It should be in a six pack at a lesser doller per ounce ratio.